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Saturday, 10 August 2013

Just back from a lovely holiday with my
family in Sardinia. It was a treat to sit around and read novels on my Kindle. And
yes, I still got a ‘Heavy’ sticker on my suitcase ('Pesante' on the way back) when checking in. I spoke Italian,
but it was a bit rusty and I must brush up on verb conjugations at some point…

I
attended a few 'aqua-fit' classes in the pool, as did most ladies invited
to join in by the rather handsome, witty and six-packed instructor, even if it
meant enduring Katy Perry and Europop at full volume, including an annoyingly catchy song
which became part of the soundtrack to the holiday, called ‘Booma Yee’...

Somehow we managed to leave a car key in our hotel
room, which the hotel kindly couriered back to us this week. At Cagliari
airport, I paid for the same two magazines I’d bought at Heathrow two weeks previously without realising. At the till I spotted this pile of
books on the counter. There’s no escaping E.L. James:

We lost a Spiderman rucksack containing a Nintendo
DS at Heathrow airport when racing to get the suitcases from the trolley onto
the bus for the car park. I’m still looking for that on Heathrow’s website-apparently
it can take some time for bags to go through security before reaching lost
property. We’re not usually so absent-minded, just unusually relaxed I think!

And now for the deadline:

This month I’m pulling together my submission for The
RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme which needs to be sent in by the end of August. It
will only be a partial this year as I’m submitting book 2, ‘The Painting’ for
the first time. Although I’ve written a rough draft, I’d like what I send off
to be as well written as possible.

Today I’m going back to research so I can fill in
the gaps, looking into the painting which the story’s centred around and the
artist as well as eighteenth century life: country houses, architecture, portraits,
gardens, clothes, lifestyle, King George III, The Prince Regent, The Seven
Years’ War etc.

I dropped into Hatchlands Park on the way back from
Guildford yesterday where there are some wonderful paintingsand the interior
was designed by Robert Adam in the 1750s.I do love a deadline and am grateful to the Romantic
Novelists’ Association for providing me with one every year.Hope you’re having a great summer and best of luck
to everyone submitting to The New Writers' Scheme!

About Me

Writer and Freelance Social Media Manager with clients in the world of books. Used to work in the City, as manager to a structured derivatives documentation team. Studied French and Italian at university and lived in Siena, Italy. Writer of historical fiction set in 18thc Venice and English country houses. Short story, The Reminiscence Tea highly commended in Feb 2017 issue of Writers' Forum magazine. Associate Member of the Romantic Novelists' Association. Former Social Media Manager for the Historical Novel Society (Aug 2014- 4 Sept 2016) and Publicity Officer for #HNSOxford16. Find out more via my website: www.neetsmarketing.com